I am a second year ID student. I am VERY new to the world or design. After reading all the wonderful advices from the professionals here, I can’t help but wonder how does a design student have time to do all of the following things?
sketch
keep yourself up to date with the design world
read regular newspaper
practice software skills
practice model-making skills
study for other classes (including non-design classes)
spend time with peers
eat
sleep
MANY other miscellaneous things
In a normal day, I only have enough time to finish the required school works, barely any time for sleep and food, never mind spending time to sketch, to read, or relax.
Speed and be clever on your distribution of energy and effort. I’ve never been late for any assignment in my 4 years of college. I don’t drink coffee or smoke or do drugs. I don’t remember going to a morning class without sleep. However there is no such thing as weekend. It’s work day all semester long. I do go have dinner with friends when we do our grocery shopping together, but that’s about as much entertainment we get.
I have seen friends who can never finish their work on time, but that’s more due to their personality. It’s the matter of being consistant. Also, try to eat healthy and get enough sleep. Plan ahead too.
My second year was the busiest. I don’t know what your classes are like, but mine were all foundation type of classes with a predictable mountain of assignment each week. Towards senior year you get more freedom to control your progress, but that’s also where many people fail at.
I suggest making a Don’t Do list along with a To Do list. That way, when you catch yourself doing something on your Don’t Dos you know you’re being unproductive and can refocus.
It is important to really look at every aspect of a project to create more time for yourself.
Example A: I sanded to much. I spent way to much time sanding and re sanding and painting. What I have learned now is that I do need 4 coats of paint and primer and to sand between each one.
Eating and Sleeping: This can all be done in studio. Sounds a little depressing right. But you can eat meals in studio while looking your projects over. If you can put a couch in studio power napping is under-rated.
Keeping up with the world: Once again, bring it all to studio and encourage your friends to do the same. Newspapers, ID mags, etc…
Time mananement is one of the hardest things to develop, but to-do list do seem to work.
Learn to squeeze out every bit of time. Read while doing laundry. Ride your bike, don’t walk. The power nap is key, amazing what a good 15-20 min of just laying with your eyes closed will do to help you regenerate. Plan projects well, much faster to think some things through than to rush in the shop with a vague idea and waste time messing up and redoing things. I remember one project we had to make a model for, so many people spent so much time in the crowded shop trying to figure out what they wanted to do. I stayed in studio, planned it all out down to how to cut my foam to get the most use of it. Truely planning it out with an honest assesment of my skills and speed. Then after everybody else burnt themselves out with a hectic week of battling lines in the shop, I went in one morning, banged out my model in 2 hrs, best model for that crit.
Develop studio efficiency, not quite the same thing as speed. Some things may seem to take longer in the beginning because you’re not jumping right into it, but proper planning will make it much faster in the long run.
